Join the Conversation

Police: Kidnapping suspect thought he knew the victim

The man accused of touching a woman's butt inside of a grocery store and later attempting to kidnap her 4-year-old son told police that the entire incident was a case of mistaken identity.

Allison Sylte, KSDK
5:47 p.m. CST January 22, 2014

Bryan Griffaw is charged with third-degree assault and attempted kidnapping after allegedly touching a woman's butt inside a grocery store and trying to abduct her 4-year-old son in the parking lot.(Photo: KSDK)

ARNOLD, Mo. (KSDK) – The man accused of touching a woman's butt inside of a grocery store and later attempting to kidnap her 4-year-old son told police that the entire incident was a case of mistaken identity.

It happened Monday morning at the Arnold Schnucks. Bryan Griffaw, 41, told police that he thought he knew the victim, and that's why he "smacked her butt" in the parking lot near her vehicle. He tells police that while he was touching the woman, he may have brushed against the child with his other arm.

The victim saws Griffaw touched her inside the grocery store, and also placed an arm on her son's back. He then waited for her to leave the store with her son and infant daughter before grabbing her son's coat near his neck and pulling the child toward him.

The child's mother pulled her son back and screamed, prompting bystanders to call police. Griffaw fled on foot and was arrested 300 yards away, according to a probable cause statement.

Surveillance footage, according to the statement, appears to back up the mothers claim, showing Griffaw waiting for the mother and children to leave the store before exiting himself.

Griffaw has been arrested previously for statutory rape and sexual misconduct. He has been charged with attempted child kidnapping and third degree assault, and is currently being held on a $25,000 cash-only bond.